The present inventions relates to a sheet guide apparatus for placing a sheet in a predetermined orientation and guiding conveyance of the sheet, and relates to an image forming apparatus provided with the sheet guide apparatus.
A typical conventional image forming apparatus for forming an image on a sheet is provided with a sheet guide apparatus including a sheet tray. A known sheet guide apparatus is designed to allow various types of sheets, such as a JIS (JIS: Japanese Industrial Standards) B5 size sheet and a JIS A4 size sheet having different sheet widths, to be placed with a specified orientation and be guided in the conveying direction.
An example of such a sheet guide apparatus includes a side guide that abuts an edge of a sheet placed in a sheet tray thereby to place the sheet in a predetermined orientation and guide conveyance of the sheet. The side guide is required to be capable of abutting an edge of each sheet having a different size, and thus is required to be easily moved in a direction perpendicular to the edge of the sheet. The side guide is also required to allow placement of the sheet in the predetermined orientation and not to deviate, in order to prevent the sheet from obliquely traveling during a sheet conveyance.
A proposed sheet guide apparatus includes a side guide that is capable of abutting an edge of a sheet parallel with a sheet conveying direction. The sheet guide apparatus includes a sheet tray provided with a guide groove having a constant width and extending in a direction perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction. An elastic deformation portion is provided along the guide groove. The sheet tray also includes a plurality of elongated holes provided along the elastic deformation portion and on an opposite side of the guide groove with the elastic deformation portion located therebetween. A guiding projection extending in the guide groove and having a width slightly larger than a width of the guide groove projects from an undersurface of the side guide.